Next Steps

Congratulations you now have your Brand Definition. The blue-print for all your brand activity – making sure that everything your brand does and says is consistent – helping to build strong brand equity and success.

But it won’t do it on its own, so don’t make the mistake of letting it sit and get dusty on the shelf, use it!

Defining your brand clearly and coherently is the critical first step to brand success. But it is only the first step. The journey is a continuous one. You have prepared the ground; your journey can now begin.

So where do you start?

The first thing to do is to identify the implications of your new Brand Definition – what further action do you need to undertake to make it real? That means looking at your brand holistically and comparing everything you do and say to your Brand Definition to make sure that you are on track.

Think about the following issues:

What are the key points that you need to make about your brand to reinforce your new definition (these are often called your key messages)?
Are your current communications – your ads, brochures, social media posts etc – all consistently and coherently communicating your new Brand Definition? Are they helping to build the positive brand image that you need? Or, do you need to change and update them?
What are the implications for your website? Is it saying the right things, in the right way? Are your key messages all reflected in the copy? What about the way it looks? What do you need to change?
What about your ‘look & feel’ (your visual identity – logo, colours, fonts, imagery etc), is this appropriate for the newly defined brand or, should you refine it? Should you update your presentations, business cards, brochures, corporate literature?
If you have a strapline – is it communicating your unique offer as strongly as possible?
You might also look at your name, although this must be done with care as changing a name is more fraught with difficulty than changing a strapline or identity. You may already have considerable equity in your name which you wouldn’t want to waste. Before you do anything you must think carefully and answer the question, ‘will a name change bring more benefit than not?’
If you have staff, are they fully behind the new Brand Definition? Do they understand and endorse it? If not, how can you ensure that they do – what internal engagement initiatives should you run to make sure that you are all united behind the same common goals?
Should you link your Values more closely to staff performance and behaviour and if so how?
How about your other stakeholders? What are the implications for your new Brand Definition for them? Should you make them aware of the changes? What is the best way to do this?
And what about your customers – are there any implications for them? Should you be communicating the changes to them overtly or merely by your changed actions?
Should you have a formal launch or, should you simply roll out gradually as and when?

Once all the potential implications have been identified, you should prioritise them, setting time frames and allocating resource to tackle them as soon as possible. Your Brand Definition is the key but it is all the activity that emanates from it that will ensure that you are building the strongest brand that you can.

Congratulations, you are now in a position to put your brand into action!

Show me my refined Brand Definition again

Top tips:

Start planning how you will bring your brand to life as early as possible
Think comprehensively about the whole remit of your organisation – both internal and external – as the brand touches everything
Consider the implications for resource and prioritise
A new visual identity is a highly effective way of signalling change to a brand – this would be an effective shorthand method of communicating your re-vitalised brand to both your external and internal audiences

We are here to help, so if you feel you need some further assistance in bringing your Brand Definition to life – whether that is:

Redesigning your marketing materials to communicate your unique brand character
Updating your website
Creating an inspiring strapline
Renewing your identity
Evaluating your name
Getting your people on board and acting as brand champions
Launching your new brand to your customers and other stakeholders
Writing a definitive list of key messages or a brand narrative

Or any other brand, communications or research issue then please get in touch:
hello@housebrandstoolkits.online
www.housebrands.co.uk

Top tips:

Start planning how you will bring your brand to life as early as possible
Think comprehensively about the whole remit of your organisation – both internal and external – as the brand touches everything
Consider the implications for resource and prioritise
A new visual identity is a highly effective way of signalling change to a brand – this would be an effective shorthand method of communicating your re-vitalised brand to both your external and internal audiences